AMES, Iowa — Throughout the summer, most Iowans are looking for a way to escape the heat and cool down.
Luckily for them, over in Ames, Iowa State University students continue to develop new flavors of ice cream from scratch.
The students just finished developing and taste-testing a new flavor of ice cream with lavender extract a few weeks ago. But the story of how Iowa State University's Creamery started is pretty cool.
ISU's Creamery began making dairy products like ice cream in the 19th century, and continued up until 1969 when it closed down.
Five decades later, the university opened its fourth creamery, but with a new twist: a full student staff.
“Our No. 1 mission at the creamery is to educate students, and so that’s why we have our team of students so that they can learn different portions of they business," said Sarah Canova, the creamery's business administrator.
The students who work inside the production plant creating your favorite ice cream flavors aren't solely interested in food sciences though. They come from diverse academic backgrounds, like second-year music education major, Daniel Brumm.
"I have a friend who works here during the school year, and he's also math education, so pretty unrelated," Brumm said.
Many of the students appreciate the academic diversity inside the production plant of the creamery.
“There’s just a wide variety of students, so you get to meet people that you wouldn’t ever get to meet out in the real world," said student production manager Hannah Even.
“It’s really cool how the creamery employs people from different backgrounds, so that we can all appreciate food science for what it is… ‘cause we all eat food," added student worker Jennessa Sharratt.
On Tuesdays, Even, Sharratt and their coworkers pasteurize the ice cream they make from scratch.
“All of our milk actually comes to us pasteurized, but just again, for the learning experience, so we get to see the whole process, then we just pasteurize everything," Even said.
Then on Wednesdays and Thursdays, the students freeze the ice cream product, which are Even’s favorite days. The students also flavor the ice creams and package them into frozen treats.
Even said she also enjoys her job because it reminds her of her life before college.
“It reminds me of the ice cream shop that I very first started working at in my hometown when I was about 16," she said. "It feels more artsy, more creative and we also get to sample our ice cream.”
Being involved in the ice cream making effort also gives the students the chance to show off their work.
"Getting to tell customers that I had something to do with making the ice cream that they are eating, and understanding how ice cream is produced... I can appreciate the final product more," Sharratt said.
The final product is sold in a small shop upstairs to consumers.
If you're interested in buying ice cream or any other dairy products Iowa State University's Creamery produces, you can click the link here.